WC Rowe - Teacher's Day
The award winning bakery,
W.C. Rowe , invited a group of secondary school teachers from across
Cornwall to visit their premises. The teachers, primarily of Food Technology, were given a thorough guided tour of the production site. The group explored manufacturing processes and received an exclusive insight into the exciting world of new product development.
The team at Rowe’s explained production regulation and quality controls faced by the business. The issues discussed affect businesses right across the industry and provided the teachers with useful material to take back to their classrooms to enhance the delivery of curriculum material. The teachers had the opportunity to ask managers and staff questions about all areas of the business.
In the afternoon the group were taken to the New Product Development Suite.
Nick Brown , NPD Manager, explained the steps in the process from receiving a new product brief to producing a fully developed product ready for the consumer. The teachers were invited to try out their culinary skills in the kitchen facility and demonstrated some very impressive pasty crimping abilities.
“We hope that teachers will go back to the classroom inspired by their visit, with up-to-date knowledge about this industry, its importance for the local economy and to raise awareness of the careers opportunities for their students” said Becci Blackburn, HR Manager. “We are keen to develop and foster links with local schools and we hope that we have made a good start”
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Grow Cornwall – Opportunities for Food and Drink businesses
A new coaching initiative, from the Grow Cornwall Team, is aimed at unlocking the potential of high growth organisations. The program provides expert business coaching to micro, small and medium sized businesses across
Cornwall and the IOS.
If you are a food and drink processor, producing an added value product, you could be eligible to access up to 30 days of bespoke business coaching from an experienced industry professional. The coaches all have extensive and proven experience of growing successful enterprises.
The coaching team boasts both a diverse and specialist skills base. The areas which may be of interest to your business include a strategic view of marketing, understanding financial performance, developing leadership and improving operational efficiency.
The program is funded by the convergence program, managed via SWRDA and delivered by Oxford Innovation. The coaching relationship is unique to each organisation and the level of time commitment you would like to make, is agreed by consultation with your coach.
To discuss the opportunities in more detail contact Grow Cornwall on 01872 300116, or to read more about the project visit the Grow Cornwall website:
http://www.growcornwall.co.uk/
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Support for Food and Drink businesses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
Food and drink businesses are receiving flexible training to meet their specific business needs via the ESF (European Social Fund) Convergence Programme. The aim is to develop a skilled, flexible workforce to strengthen a sector that already has a reputation for producing a broad range of high quality products.
The Key Sectors project has received almost £8.5 million of ESF Convergence investment and is being delivered by the Learning Partnership for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly via the Learning and Skills Council. Food and Drink is one of 13 sectors involved and has £600,000 of that ESF total to invest by December 2010.
The support is aimed at smaller businesses that undertake food processing or manufacturing but there is also an allocation for larger companies.
Funding is available for National Vocational Qualifications which will be fully funded. Short course qualifications and bespoke training such as food safety training, HACCP, cheesemaking courses, auditing skills, fish filleting, butchery, sausage making, customer service, employment law, sales skills and ICT will be funded 25-100%. Skills for Life (numeracy and literacy) and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) training will also be fully funded.
The programme will link with Train to Gain by adding value to the mainstream offering to create a training package to best suit the business. Support for additional workshops, training release allowances, and travel expenses can be provided by the Convergence programme.
Mark Williams, ESF Director for the Learning and Skills Council said: “It has never been more important to ensure that workers in key industries like food and drink have the skills and training required to keep their businesses profitable in an increasingly competitive market. The LSC is very pleased to be able to provide a significant amount of ESF money to make that happen.”
David Rodda, Senior Agir-food Co-ordinator, CAC said: “The Convergence programme has a substantial budget for investing in the development of skills within the food and drink sector. By joining up the different funding initiatives we hope to deliver packages of training that really meet business needs with support for both accredited and bespoke training.”
27 businesses in Cornwall have so far received support. One of the businesses to have benefited is Drinkmaster, an innovative sealed drinks manufacturer, based near Liskeard. Drinkmaster received assistance through both ESF and ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Convergence investment.
Seven members of staff were supported through a short course qualification in food safety. The training was tailored to meet the needs of both the employees and company with six employees receiving the training in house and one attending a course at college. One member of staff is now taking a level 4 NVQ in supply chain management and one a level 2 NVQ in distribution, warehousing and storage operations. The costs of training were supported through Train to Gain and in this case additional investment through the Convergence Programme enabled a training release allowance to be provided to the business to support time away from production.
Drinkmaster has also received 2 days of fully funded business support from a professional consultant - through the ERDF Sector Transition Fund, a separate project also managed by the Cornwall Agr-food Council.
Margaret Bunton, the Quality Assurance Manager who herself completed a microbiology for a non-microbiologist course said: “The chance to complete these courses at a local venue such as ‘Duchy College’ is such a plus. The saving to companies in terms of time away from ones desk, travelling expenses and last but not least the cost of the course itself, makes it a winner, and puts it within the reach of most businesses. This is the level of support a company like Drinkmaster needs to keep it abreast of new ideas and regulations. All of the training Drinkmaster employees have received has helped us in our quest to gain our BRC global standard food issue 5 accreditation which I am pleased to say we achieved this month”.
For more information about the funding available please contact:
Angie Shepherd, Skills Advisor, 01209 722123 / 07771 807340,
angela.shepherd@duchy.ac.uk or Emma Kehyaian, 01209 616092
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